National Book Store of the Ramos Group has dropped plans to do a backdoor listing of its retail assets through listed Vulcan Industrial and Mining Corp.

Vulcan said in a disclosure to the stock exchange Wednesday it would still keep its investments and subscription to the shares of the company.

“The Board of Directors of the National Book Store group has informed the company that it will no longer pursue a back door listing of its retail assets,” Vulcan said.

“In light of this development, Vulcan will act accordingly and revisit its strategy and explore various ways to deliver value to our shareholders, While there is no other agreement planned at this time, the company assures the exchange that it will make timely and proper disclosures should one be had with NBS or any other party in the future,” it added.

Vulcan said NBS’ decision would not affect the composition of the board of directors and the public float.
NBS, the country’s leading seller of books and school and office supplies, in 2013 announced plans to do backdoor listing via Vulcan, which is also controlled by the Ramos family.

NBS in 2014 subscribed to P3.4 billion worth of shares in Vulcan in preparation for the backdoor listing.

Vulcan earlier obtained shareholders’ approval to increase the company’s authorized capital stock to P4 billion from P600 million to accommodate NBS’ subscription, change its corporate name to National Book Store Retail Corp. and revise its primary purpose from mining to retail company.

Vulcan holds mineral exploration rights in several parts of the country and operates a rock aggregates project in Rizal province.

NBS started as a small shop in Escolta before the Japanese occupation, selling novels and textbooks. The company has over 200 branches nationwide today.